JP-A-9-218408 (columns 0011 and 0012, and FIG. 1) (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Reference 1) discloses a technique in which an ion beam is caused to enter at a predetermined incident angle an alignment film formed on the surface of a substrate for a liquid crystal display, to apply an alignment process (i.e., a process of aligning liquid crystal molecules in a predetermined direction) on the alignment film.
Furthermore, JP-A-2002-62532 (columns 0018 and 0019, and FIGS. 2 and 4) (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Reference 2) discloses a technique in which the surface of a substrate is irradiated with an ion beam while reciprocating the substrate in parallel to the surface of the substrate with respect to an ion source placed at a predetermined angle to the substrate, thereby forming an alignment film for the liquid crystal display on the surface of the substrate and applying an alignment process on the alignment film.    Patent Reference 1: JP-A-9-218408    Patent Reference 2: JP-A-2002-62532